Poor financial management has seen the downfall of many non-profit and commercial organisations over the years; the reasons are many and varied, ranging from outright fraud to basic incompetence. It is the responsibility of the Board to ensure that it has the capacity and capability to understand and monitor the organisation’s performance and thereby fulfil this most important aspect of corporate governance.
One of the key success factors in achieving a good governance business model is to establish and maintain an effective relationship between the Board, the Chairman and the Chief Executive. In this article, we will identify these key success factors and also note a few early warning signals that generally mean that there is “all is not well“ in the relationship.
This article provides a simple but effective framework for those who choose good governance over higher profits whatever the costs.
Non-profit organisations in the small to medium size range generally do not have access to diverse and well developed organisation structures to deliver their strategic and operational plans. Resources are scarce, supply and demand rarely meet and employment conditions do not always attract the “best and brightest”...
Why is stakeholder engagement important in the non profit sector? How does an NGO create a stakeholder engagement plan?
Board members are custodians of their organisations and are charged with the responsibility of ensuring they leave the business in “better shape” than when they were appointed to their positions. This outcome cannot be achieved if the 3 pillars of sustainability, namely Economic, Community and Environment are either ignored or not given the appropriate focus and attention in both the strategic and operational management of the business.
At this time of year it is important for the board and senior management team to reflect on what has transpired in the past 12 months – have expectations that were articulated in the strategic plan been achieved and if not or so, what were the drivers of these results?
Good governance requires that the board has in place a means by which it can communicate its mission and then be able to monitor and evaluate performance to ensure long term viability, sustainability and achievement of their goals i.e. the reason the organisation was first started in the first place.
Organisations striving for best practice in board leadership, effectiveness and governance will have in place a Board Charter that all board members understand and formally commit to through the selection, induction and annual review processes. This month’s article will provide a summary of the key components of a board charter and the key benefits derived from having such a document in the governance system of your organisation.
Organisations striving for best practice in board leadership, effectiveness and governance will have in place a Code of Conduct that all board members and staff understand and formally commit to through the selection, induction and annual review processes. This month’s article will provide a summary of the key components of a Code of Conduct and the key benefits derived from having such a document in the governance system of your organisation.
What does the digital age mean for a board of directors and their quest for good governance?
We are often asked “what is the ideal number of board members for a non-profit organisation“ and our answer is generally “depends“!
We discuss the role of the Chairman from both an internal and external perspective and highlight the importance of this position in the organisation’s quest for good governance and sustainability.
We suggest 3 things that Boards could do better to improve their own performance and thereby the performance of the organisation they govern.
Managing the aftermath of a crisis – are you prepared?
What are the big issues Boards should be thinking about in 2017?
Like most professionals in today’s business world, Board members of non-profit organisations face competing demands with decreasing resources.
Corporate Social Responsibility – it’s the right thing to do
The role of the Board: effective financial governance, what does it look like and how to implement
People wish to join a Board of an organisation for many reasons, and unless you are actually invited to take up such a position, you will be required to participate in a recruitment and selection process, not unlike that of an internal role in a business.
How to transform an ineffective board into one that works! Generally it’s not that hard to identify an ineffective board of management, the real challenge is how to transform the board to one that fulfils its duties and responsibilities as governors of the organisation and provides leadership, direction and support to management and staff.
Over the past 12 months, we have witnessed the very public demise, on both a national and local level , of organisational leaders – Chief Executives, Board Chairman and even whole Boards have either “fallen on their swords” or been dismissed for poor performance and failures to fulfil their fiduciary, governance and leadership responsibilities.
Such unplanned turnover is disruptive, impacts on stakeholder perceptions and confidence and reflects poorly on all concerned in how the organisation arrived at this point, where such a decision is the only option available to restore stability to the business. Whilst no system is infallible, what we have seen over the past 12 months is governance at its worst from Boards and Leaders who should have known better.
The failure was people, not systems and processes, so it is timely to reflect on these issues again.
The word “culture “ has been bandied around a lot today, from referring to an organisation as having a “ toxic culture” to claiming a football club has a “ winning culture”.
